1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manipulator and a manipulator posture control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various technologies for avoiding a collision with an obstacle have been proposed.
For example, in a conventional manipulator posture control device, a target posture is inputted and a manipulator is moved so that an initial posture and the target posture coincide while a distance between the manipulator and an obstacle is measured based on an image captured by a camera provided at the leading end of the manipulator. The posture of the manipulator is controlled to avoid the obstacle when the manipulator is judged to have come to a position at a specified distance from or closer to the obstacle from the captured image (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-207089).
Since the conventional manipulator posture control device aims to avoid a collision with an obstacle, measures in the case where the manipulator collides without being able to avoid a collision are insufficient. Thus, if the manipulator collides head-on without being able to avoid an obstacle, there is a problem that a colliding force with the obstacle cannot be reduced.